Company of Heroes is the hottest new RTS (that’s Real Time Strategy for the slow learners) for the PC. Oops, I mean for the “Games for Windows” platform, which is the new branding logo dreamed up by Microsoft to try and revive the PC gaming industry. More on that later. Company of Heroes (CoH) is a World War II themed RTS, designed by the developers of Warhammer 40K Dawn of War.
The gameplay in CoH involves basic RTS style, but the map has a bunch of important resources and areas you have to maintain control of in order to keep resources flowing in so that you can continue the battle. The interface is pretty slick, and the graphics are fantastic, the best I’ve ever seen in an RTS. The game has a great tutorial that makes it accessible even for beginners to the RTS genre.
The one negative thing I’ve found so far is that the load times are excessively long. I am still early in the game, I will post more on this title later on.
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Just saw the list of games to be released this week over on Joystiq. Their full list is amazing, there’s going to be over 20 games released this week. Here is just a sample, the ones I might actually be interested in:
- Baten Kaitos Origins (GCN) - this is a must have for me.
- Mario vs Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis (DS) - will wait on reviews but this looks great.
- Just Cause (PC, Xbox, PS2, 360)Â - liked the demo for this for 360, might try the PC ver.
- Mage Knight: Apocalypse (PC) - I’m mainly interested in this so i can get the cool dragon pack-in.
- DEFCON (PC) - this is from the makers of Darwinia. Might be good, I’ll wait and see though.
- Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria (PS2) - this is a must have for me.
- Caesar IV (PC) - will look at reviews.
- ParaWorld (PC) - will look at reviews.
I am really getting behind on my RPGs, There are now like 6 or 7 out for the PS2 that I haven’t aquired yet. I am kind of obsessive about collecting all of them so I will probably be dishing out some dosh soon. But on the downside, I really wanted to save my money to get a Wii in November. 
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Two of my reviews have been posted to GameChronicles. The first one is for 80 Days, an adventure game. I give it 5.7 out of 10. Would have been a lot better if some of the technical glitches had been resolved.
The other review is for the Xbox game, Crime Life: Gang Wars, an “urban violence” game that tries to mimic games like Grand Theft Auto 3. Do not buy it. Please. This is the lowest score I’ve ever given a game, 2.8 out of 10.
A couple of reviews of mine were posted on Game Chronicles. The first is a review of a strategy game, Cuban Missile Crisis: The Aftermath. I give it 5.2 out of 10. Pretty much avoid unless the subject matter is really compelling to you. It mixes turn-based strategic level game which was pretty cool with a crappy and frustrating RTS battle mode.
The other review is for a great Playstation 2 old school RPG, Wild Arms: Alter Code F. This is a remake of the original Playstation Wild Arms game, and it’s a good one. Great story, very fun gameplay, if you like console RPG games definitely this is worth a look. I gave it 8.8 out of 10.
Two new reviews of mine, up on GameChronicles.
The first one is for the PC first/third person shooter GUN, a wild west hootenanny, yeeeeehaw! I gave it a 9.0. Check the full scoop in my review. This game totally rocks, if you are a western fan at all definitely check it out.
The other review is for the Xbox version of The Sims 2. I didn’t like it much, but I think it is just not my kind of game. Gave it 6.8. Here’s what I had to say about it. One thing is it does look pretty nice on my new HD TV in 720p.
Not much else to say, here’s my Now Playing list:
My review of Still Life has been posted up on Game Chronicles.. Bottom line is, if you are an adventure game fan or a fan of psychological horror, you could do worse than picking up this one. My review is for the Xbox version, but from what I can tell the game plays out almost identically on the PC version so grab either one. Game is currently selling for around $20-30 street price. Keep in mind the M rating, it’s there for a reason, this isn’t a kiddie game.
I did a review of Heritage of Kings: The Settlers, for Game Chronicles Magazine. You can find it here. The bottom line is, it’s a pretty good RTS for a beginner or for people who want a slow paced game that concentrates on building up your settlement and economy, rather than on a lot of combat. 7.5 out of 10.
Finished up my Sea Wolves review a few days ago and forgot to post up a link here. Well, anyway, you can read about it here. In short - a somewhat innovative shareware game that might amuse you for a few hours. I recommend trying the demo.